Effects

The duration of the effects is from four to six hours. They depend on the user’s condition, period of use, amount and way of administration. The most common ways of heroin use are smoking, snorting or injecting.

Heroin use could easily provoke physical and psychological dependence.

Short-term effects: heroin is a depressant of the central nervous system, which means it represses the brain’s functions: the feeling of pain is less intense or disappears completely; emotions are dulled and the person feels calm, movements of the bowels slow down resulting in constipation; blood pressure and body temperature decrease. The user may feel short-term euphoria or feelings of prosperity. Other psychological effects include quick relaxing effect, coming like a “flash”. This effect usually appears during the first use and becomes stronger after several uses. The user does not experience feelings of weakness, anxiety, hunger and cold, enters a state of exclusive relaxation, close to his inner happiness, and becomes indifferent to the surrounding world.

Long-term effects: users often suffer from weight loss, deteriorated health as a result of malnutrition and not taking good care of themselves; loss of interest in anything and anyone around them.

Important: People who inject heroin are exposed to a risk of overdose and different infections (syphilis, HIV, hepatitis).